


Dear Walt

by Bookwormsarah



Category: Daddy-Long-Legs - Jean Webster
Genre: Epistolary, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-19
Updated: 2014-12-19
Packaged: 2018-03-02 03:40:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2798198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookwormsarah/pseuds/Bookwormsarah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Letters from J Pendleton, esq</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dear Walt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lomedet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lomedet/gifts).



> Written for the prompt 'What *was* Jervis thinking?'

15th July 

Dear Walt,  
You will be surprised to learn that I have finally taken your suggestion that I ‘stop philosophising about redistribution of wealth and get on with it’ seriously. Do you remember that some time ago my father insisted I take his seat on the board of an orphan home? Yesterday we were asked to consider three orphans of age to leave for the wide world. In recent years it has become a kinder place, and our young charges are no more cast out into the world with a change of clothing and a few cents for the train fare to the city (a city, any city) to sink or swim as they see fit. Instead we trustees sit in judgement, sending one or other to ‘suitable’ positions.

Orphan One was a girl of fifteen, educational reports unremarkable, but seemingly efficient in the care of the smaller ones at the home (I believe she was kept on after her allotted time for this purpose). She has been found a position as a domestic on a farm, where she can use the skills she honed on dozens of orphans to care for the five Rutger children. Mrs Rutger’s brother is a fellow trustee, and I fear that the five rosy, healthy Rutgers may be more work than the fourteen pale and fractious children in her dormitory. Yes, the Lippett woman (reluctantly) provided a tour before the meeting and we witnessed the accommodation, scrubbed to within an inch of its life by orphans great and small.

Orphan Two is a sturdy boy of thirteen. He has been overly boisterous with the younger children, and is being sent to work on a farm close to the Rutgers where they hope that physical work will be good for his soul. His reports place him as remarkably stupid at lessons, and firmly bound for the outdoor life. I believe it is a rare human who can break through the drudgery of that particular classroom, and nothing seems to have inspired this gentleman to more than the most basic efforts. Still he leaves with the ability to read and to cipher, and he can count his wages and ensure he is not cheated out of change.

Orphan Three completed the John Grier school at fourteen (an almost unheard of act) and has spent the years since then at the local high school. I am not sure what his classmates made of him, but his reports were excellent. It is with number three I believe I have found a way to contribute. 

I am going to sponsor young Benton through college. The rather appalling woman who runs the place suggested he should go as a clerk to the big factory in Town, indicating that this was far better than he should expect, and the discussion ranged forth for over an hour. I am determined that college will provide him with far more chances, and silenced the room with the suggestion, which was eventually accepted. It will be an interesting experiment to see whether he shakes off his humble beginnings and rises above the John Grier Home. 

Inspired by Harrison’s lecture on altruism we attended at Easter, I have decided to remain anonymous. However, I have requested that he writes to me once a month updating me on his studies. You’ll remember how much fun we had in our own college days (and yes, I am aware these were not so long ago – you are determined to ensure I remember that the age of 25 is a distance yet), and I am pleased to think that Mr Benton will have the opportunity to discover himself away from the orphanage. 

Enough for now, orphans are not the liveliest of conversation topics. Have you been attending the lectures at the Society? I find it thoroughly frustrating to have been called away just when the programme suggested good debates.

I remain, as ever,

J Pendleton

 

6th November

Walt,  
Thank you for your hospitality over the past week, and I hope Elizabeth was not too affronted by our late night arguments. I finished the pamphlet you gave me on the train home, and I continue to disagree with you on at least two vital points connected to the suffrage movement, although I concede to you on a third. 

Returned home to find my monthly letter from young Benton. He is an earnest soul and carefully lists his classes and his formal opinions of them. He underlines the items he believes I should be most interested in, principally his studies in mathematics and religion. These will help him broaden into a responsible member of society, able to assist in the growth of others.

Please pass the enclosed to Elizabeth, with the hope that it will make up in some small way for the wine stained cloth. I must learn that gesticulating may be an impressive quality on the platform, but is less respected across a dining table.

Yours as ever,  
J Pendleton

PS Benton has joined one of the more reactionary societies. He is unaware that they would almost certainly look down on him if they knew his origins. He wants to ‘get on in life and prove himself worthy of my very great trust’. I despair. 

 

20th March

Walt,  
I am glad you enjoyed the books, and am equally glad that they arrived in time for your journey. I hope that the Californian air suits Elizabeth and that she will soon be at full strength again. Please tell her that I particularly recommend the Shaw pamphlet about internationalist reform to her, and suggest she reads the others before your trip to England this summer. I attended a number of meetings of the Fabians whilst in London two years ago and spent some time in their circle. I have no doubt that they would welcome a fellow thinker.

To answer your urgent queries, indeed I do continue to receive letters from Benton, who writes with the regularity (and originality) of an automaton. If I have not seen the familiar envelope on my breakfast table on the fourth of the month, I would be compelled to contact the college to enquire of his well-being. 

You may remember that last year he had associated himself with some undesirable political types, however Benton’s time in the society was short lived. “They were not as dedicated to betterment as I initially believed, and I confess myself sorely disappointed in the frivolity.” Little prig…

Yrs as ever,  
Jervis

 

18th June 

Dear Walt,  
Many congratulations on the arrival of young Susan, and please tell Elizabeth that I am sure that she will be as spirited and active as Miss Anthony herself. Is Bernard taking well to big brotherhood? Perhaps he is too small to appreciate the changes a sister will bring to his world. 

My own ‘child’ Benton will graduate in three weeks, after cramming in three summer’s worth of credits to mean he finishes college in three years rather than four. He writes that he will be joining a newspaper office in Ohio (printing, not journalism). I wish him luck with it, although his letters suggest he is too fastidious to survive much ink and grease. I do not expect to hear from him after graduation, and at that point will consider my duties discharged. It has been curiously unsatisfying, but I have already agreed to sponsor another orphan, with the unlikely name of Henry Frieze. He commences his studies in September, and perhaps he will have a livelier time of it. 

Yrs,  
Jervis

14th December 

Walt,   
It was a shock to return to the chills of the New York after a delightful excursion to California, and I must thank you again for your hospitality. I particularly appreciated the bookshelf in my room, do I assume that Elizabeth had some hand in selecting the volumes? I enclose in return some additions to her collection, which may enlighten her further. Robinson Crusoe is for Bernard, and the Grimm for Susan.

PS Mr Frieze writes that his room is cold and his shoes are too thin. I have refrained from pointing out this is why he has an allowance and wonder about nominative determinism…

17th January 

Walt,  
Of course I am aware that at three and almost two the children are too young to appreciate the books I sent. I know my godson is of remarkable intelligence, but am fully aware that it will be some years before he can tackle Defoe unaided. The illustrations are far nicer than those in my own copy, and I think he should enjoy the pictures while you read to him, and Elizabeth and Susan enjoy the fairy tales.

Young Frieze has sent me another list of his grades, which continue to be impressive. He also sent a list of the draughts affecting his study. I trust on graduation he seeks a role in the tropics, which will suit his rather chilly soul…

Yrs,  
Jervis

 

8th July 

Walt,   
Far from giving up once Frieze graduates, I have gained an additional millstone with the even more unlikely named Jerusha Abbott. Apparently she appeared at the orphanage lacking in the basics necessities of life, such as a name that would not make the cows faint, and was given the impressive syllables by the redoubtable Miss L, who appears to have taken a dislike to her from the start. She was not keen to accept the offer of tuition fees, suggesting instead that Jerusha should start to earn her keep and not be indulged.

A fellow trustee is by fortunate chance also a member of the school board, and spoke strongly in favour of Miss Abbott receiving further educational opportunities. You know my feelings on colleges for girls (soulless, cloistered places), and I remained distant until Miss Pritchard read some samples of Jerusha’s work. She is an amusing and observant writer, who should be encouraged to pursue the craft, and if she was put to work as Miss L insisted, there would be scant time for this. Certain trustees recognised themselves in a description of the monthly visiting days, and turned pale or puce depending on their proclivity. After the discussion resumed, I announced my intention to send her to college, even though Frieze is about to commence his senior year. After further arguments Miss Pritchard and I persuaded them that this was the best course of action, and between us will ensure that Miss J Abbott is awarded her diploma.

By lucky coincidence, my niece Julia is due to begin her studies in the fall, so I have arranged for Miss Abbott to be enrolled in the same college, and sequestered near her. Julia writes occasionally (bachelor uncles are dull types, but seasonally lucrative), and may be able to provide me with a flavour of her character. Her essays suggest that perhaps the letters I receive may be more interesting than Frieze’s or the one before…

Yours,   
J Pendleton

 

30th September

Dear Walt,  
This is, to quote young Samuels in the mail room, ‘a turn up for the books’. JA’s first letter arrived this morning and she appears to have take the instruction to ‘write as if to her parents’ to heart. Instead of a list of her elected classes and discussions of her future, she mentioned the abominable Miss Lippett, and spent half of her pages speculating about me.

Please find enc the papers you requested. I trust Elizabeth and the children are well.  
Jervis

 

23rd February 

Dear Walt,  
The prompt return of the notes was much appreciated, and I shall read and comment on the pamphlets after the conference has concluded.

Letters from Miss Jerusha Abbott (who informs me she is to be called ‘Judy’) continue apace, far exceeding the one a month diligently adhered to by Benton and Frieze. She is a very entertaining correspondent I have been occasionally tempted to break confidentiality and respond. She writes as if in mid conversation, with a great deal of humour unexpected in one who grew up beneath the thumb of Miss Lippett, a woman determined to crush the joy out of any child. Miss A has refused to be the soulless automaton of Miss L’s preference, despite harsh treatment, and I take far more interest in her confessions and successes than I ever did in the earnest epistles of Benton or the staid writings of Frieze. I confess that a letter from her has become a highlight of my day. Apart from your respected self, I have rarely had a prolonged correspondence with someone who wanted to write to me, so her letters are a refreshing window on an otherwise gloomy winter. I wonder if she is as interesting in person? Julia is very uninformative on the subject.

My regards to Elizabeth and the children, 

Yrs   
JP

 

1st April

Griggs,  
Flowers suitable for a young girl to be sent to Miss Judy Abbott, c/o the Infirmary, Fergusson Hall, with the enclosed note. Please ensure that my name remains unconnected to them.   
J Pendleton

1st April

Griggs, this is not a joke. The handwriting is mine, be it somewhat disguised. Please send flowers as instructed.  
JP.

 

29th April

Dear Walt,  
Just a quick note to accompany the birthday parcel for Bernard. I hope he makes good use of the enclosed. You may wish to warn Elizabeth to order additional covers for the nursery furniture. 

To answer your question, yes Julia is occasionally mentioned in Miss Abbott’s letters, and her opinion of my niece is about as flattering as the one you formed. Does this assure you of her intelligence and judgment?  
Yours as ever,  
Jervis

 

28th May

Griggs  
Please arrange for Miss Abbott to stay at Lock Willow Farm for the summer vacation. Ensure that the Semples are unaware that I am involved, as it is imperative I maintain anonymity.  
J Pendleton

 

30th May

Dear Walt  
A quick note to update you on the latest happenings. Business recently found me in the vicinity of Fergusson Hall on so I intended to take my niece Julia to tea. Unfortunately she was detained by recitations, and asked a friend to amuse me until she was available. The friend was the rechristened Judy, who tramped across the countryside, consumed cakes with a relish very different to Julia’s carefully studied languor, and argued thoroughly with me. It was a most entertaining afternoon and we were quite late back. Julia was carefully to hide her displeasure, but I wonder whether she will take it out on poor Judy afterwards.  
Yrs,  
JP

 

30th May

Julia,  
Please accept these chocolates as a token of my apology for my absence last week. I enclose a box for your friend who was unfortunately detained with you, and some for Miss Abbott as a thanks for entertaining me.  
Your affec Uncle, J Pendleton

 

2nd June

Walter,  
No, I am not ‘smitten’ by Miss Abbott. I am merely intrigued by her cognitive reasoning and I enjoy her writing style. To suggest that I am…Oh Walt, I don’t know. She’s bright and sparky and made no attempt to flatter or flirt. She is not sly or coy in her manner and has thrown herself into collegiate life with every fibre of her being. She spent a good fifteen minutes quizzing me about the books I felt were most essential to my childhood, and informed me that had she encountered Alice in Wonderland during her infancy, it would have greatly improved her childhood. She wants to start a scheme in which every infant is given a dozen books at birth, and parents or guardians are instructed to ensure that these are absorbed by the child before they are ten. We debated which books should be chosen, and whether the sex of the child should affect the volumes given. I was leaning towards the affirmative, but she managed to convince me that few books were of no benefit to the other sex, no matter how strongly they appeal to one. I have been instructed to read Little Women, and in return she will read Kidnapped, which I have a suspicion she would have read without prompting. 

One thing of which I am determined (even more so now I have met her), Judy shall not return to the John Grier Home for the summer as suggested by the ghastly Miss Lippett. She has worked hard this year, and deserves a proper vacation. Do you remember the farm in Connecticut where you and I spent part of one summer? Griggs has to written to the Semples asking their permission to send Miss Abbott to them, luggage to follow, all bills to Griggs, who forms a decent front for J Pendleton esq. Should the same J Pendleton find himself close to Lock Willow this summer, it would only be natural for him to call in on such old friends, would it not?

She has an interesting mind and I look forward to further discussions. 

Your foolish friend,  
Jervis

 

15th April

Dear Walt,   
Many congratulations on the arrival of a third little Cornforth to the family fold. I trust that this means that your wandering ways will be delayed for a while and you will be in California long enough to receive an old friend who hasn't visited in far too long?

I am not sure what they teach in High Schools these days, but Miss Abbott has just encountered Hamlet for the first time. There is a rather well reviewed production currently showing in New York, so kind Uncle Jervis invited niece Julia and her good friends Sallie and Judy to attend as his guests. Judy has never seen a theatre production before, and it was a pleasure to attend with one who took so much pleasure in the spectacle, and who discussed the performance and text with so much intelligence afterwards. I am afraid that Julia is not making the most of her education, being more interested in hats and gowns than the doings on stage, although Judy confessed in a letter to having been envious of the former. 

This led, to a piece of foolishness on my part. I instructed Griggs to send an additional cheque for Miss Abbott to buy herself some hats, and the cheque was promptly returned to me with an indignant letter. I may have offended her, but she has managed to raise herself still further in my estimation. How many girls would turn down the money, freely given, for fripperies? Certainly not Julia, but Julia has never wanted for anything. Judy made it very clear that she did not want to be any more in debt than she considers herself at present. She has a strong moral sense, and is determined to stand on her own two feet, which makes me admire her more than ever.

Yours,   
Jervis

 

11th June

My dear Judy…[ripped up]  
Jerusha…[ripped up]  
Dear Miss Abbott…[ripped up]

 

27th July

Walt  
As you predicted, I have behaved abominably and now – too late - bitterly regret it. I let jealousy control me and I was stubborn, exactly what you have always accused me of. JA wrote that she was planning on spending her summer vacation at some lakeside camp with a party of young disreputables. I knew the Semples would be most disappointed, for they thoroughly enjoyed her company last year and were anticipating her return this, so Griggs telegraphed and made it very clear that she was to proceed to Lock Willow as planned. There was an exchange of letters, and she departed for the farm with a terse note, and I have heard nothing for almost two months. 

Of course the truth of the matter is that she has her own friends, and wanted to spend the summer with them. How very different from last year when she was so grateful to me for getting her away from the John Grier Home. I had such plans for the summer, plans involving being Jervis and not J Pendleton esq. I set my mind on spending time at the farm and getting to know Judy away from Julia and Miss Sallie McBride. I have a nagging fear that Sallie’s brother is the an attraction, or at least a temptation. Her letters have been increasingly full of 'Jimmy', and my heart sinks further each time. At present she sees him as a good chum, but I have no doubt he his feelings for her are warmer. 

And why shouldn't they be? He is young, smart and humorous, all the things J Pendleton is not. I do apologise Walt, this is somewhat maudlin, but the Club's fine port does appear to bring out the worst in me.

Jervis

 

10th August

Walt,  
Have received a letter from JA and have been forgiven. 'Master Jervie' will visit Lock Willow after all!   
JP  
PS 'Post card' purchased at the Exposition last summer. Trust B, S and C will like the pictures.

 

15th December

Dear Walt,  
I enclose parcels for the children. Is Charlotte old enough for a paint box? If not, I trust you will remove it to a shelf for high days and holidays. Bernard and Susan have books, and Susan's comes highly recommended by a certain college Junior.

Judy is to spend Christmas with my brother's family, at the behest of my niece. I have no doubt that Julia will introduce her to many 'suitable men', but I have faith in Judy’s ability to see through the shallow fripperies that epitomises the friends picked by Julia and her crowd. I have sent her presents from Mr John Smith, but I will be careful not to push myself too much in her presence. 'Master Jervie' may be an entertaining companion in Connecticut, but New York has many other pulls, and I am learning to be content with her letters. Young McBride attended the college dance last week, and my attempt at interfering last summer was enough. I must let her make her own friendships, and trust to her judgement. Despite the affection in her letters I am distant from her, although I hope she considers J Pendleton her friend. I rarely have such entertaining company as she, and I must learn to share her.

Yours festively,  
JP

 

15th June

Walt,  
I trust you are enjoying your sojourn in Europe, and will hold no exception to me joining you earlier than planned? I shall find a nook to tuck myself in, and run all over as long as I can retreat to you when I am need of company. JA will not be taking up the offer of a Grand Tour this summer, despite the entreaties of both John Smith and Jervis Pendleton. I must confess to being sorely disappointed, but not unduly surprised. Instead she will be trying to stuff some ungrateful brains with Latin and Grammar. She will need a proper vacation, so I will send her to Lock Willow for the final weeks before her studies commence. This may coincide with a certain J Pendleton's return from his own vacation in need of some good New England countryside to contrast to the Old. 

 

28th June

Walt,  
Your letter has made me consider a truth I have been hiding from myself. I think, I believe, that Judy may care for me. When we are together we talk as if we have never been strangers. Conversation flows, and silences are comfortable. For the first time I consider that there may be a person I would care to spend the rest of my life with.

I can hear your thoughts as you read those words and then look across the table to Elizabeth, who can tell there is something amiss. Watching you, my dear friends, as your union has grown and strengthened, has made me believe that marriage does not have to be the houseful of tension and mistrust my family showed it to be. I did not believe that there could be a person who would suit me as completely as Elizabeth suits you – someone who will discuss novels and politics with equal energy, who will argue back to me with such conviction, and who is ready for whatever life flings at her. The more time I spent with Miss Jerusha Abbott, the more certain I am that the person is she. Her college career is over, and she is settled at Lock Willow to write. I shall visit this summer, before I travel to Canada, a journey which would have more appeal if the hunting was tempered with fine dining and debate. Have you considered swapping California for the frozen north?   
Yrs,  
Jervis

 

17th August

Walt,   
Judy Abbott is the kindest, brightest, most caring and intelligent womanly thing I have met, and I despair that she is soon to move beyond John Smith. She is ready to embrace the world, and I do not want her to go. She has rejected her friend Jervis Pendleton, and one day shall find her writing to another instead of her benefactor. I have had several scares with young McBride over the years, and the envelopes I once greeted with pleasure now fill me with dread that one will be a letter inviting her ‘dear Daddy’ to a wedding. Could I attend in good conscience? I fear not. Oh my young Judy, you have grown so much in the past four years, I don’t want you moving away from me now…  
I rarely ask for your advice Walt, but I don’t know what I should do.  
Jervis

 

5th October

Walt,  
Thank you for your letters over the past weeks, which have reassured me when I was at my lowest ebb. The [disease] was taking its hold when I wrote to you last, and I must apologise for the incoherence. I confess I do not remember the contents with any clarity, but the emotion rings true in my memory.

I have received a letter from Judy, wracked with unhappiness. I have agreed to meet her – for her to meet Daddy Long Legs (did I ever mention her pet name for me?) at last. I do feel guilty that I have an advantage here. I am seeing both the thoughts she shares with Mr Pendleton, and those she addresses to the mysterious gentleman who stands for her family. I feel as if I am privy to a private journal, but it has finally given me the confidence to speak again. My heart is lighter than it has been for many months, even though I tire easily still, and will have to conclude here.

Yrs   
Jervis

 

12th October

My Dearest Judy,  
When you visited today all my fears and guilt melted away. Your face as you recognised me, both of me, your tears and your laughter, the utterness of you. I did not expect this nor ask for this, and yet you have opened my eyes to a joy I did not realise could exist. Dear Judy, may we have many, many years together, as you teach me to laugh and to love. 

Your Jervis

PS Of the many letters you have written to me, this my first proper reply. It is my first love letter too, Judy, and I believe it is you who taught me how.

 

22nd October

Mr Jervis Pendleton requests the pleasure of Mr and Mrs Walter Cornforth at his wedding to Miss Jerusha Abbott.


End file.
